"What?" Daisy was insulted. "I didn't steal your pony!"
"Yes, you did!" The girl with the braid jutted out her chin.
Henry recognized the girl.
She lived in West Belltown, and her name was Rebecca.
But he didn't know her very well, since she was a grade ahead of him in school.
Rebecca stomped over to the pony.
"Everyone knows I wanted to ride Coco in the show today," she said, giving the pony a hug.
Daisy pulled on the lead rope to move the pony away from Rebecca.
"I wanted to ride her today too," she said.
"I've been riding her in my lessons for the past month."
"Me too," Rebecca said.
"Wait a minute." Henry was confused.
"How can both of you ride the same pony at the same time?"
Daisy looked surprised, as if she'd forgotten Henry was listening.
"We don't ride her at the same time," she said.
"Rebecca and I take lessons on different days."
"Oh," Henry said. Then he remembered something Maggie had told him.
"But wait, why can't you both ride Coco in the show?
Maggie said a boy is riding Big Spot today too."
"Maggie is riding in the beginner classes for people under age eleven," Daisy explained.
"The boy is riding later, in the advanced classes for older riders.
Big Spot will have plenty of time to rest in between classes."
Rebecca nodded, still looking angry.
"My class is right before Daisy's class, so Coco can only do one or the other.
And I was supposed to ride Coco until she stole her!"
Daisy rolled her eyes. "I didn't steal Coco from you," she said.
"We chose straws to decide who'd get to ride her in the show.
You lost when you got the short straw.
It was a fair way to decide, so you should just forget about it!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Rebecca yelled, clenching her fists.
"Anyway, you'll be sorry!"
She stomped away. Daisy stared after the other girl.
"Wow," she said. "Rebecca seems really mad at me."
Henry nodded. "Do you think she's mad enough to steal your shirt?"
Daisy's eyes widened. "Definitely!" she exclaimed.
"Maybe she thought that would make me drop out of the show.
Then she'd be able to ride Coco after all."
"That seems like a pretty good motive," Henry agreed.
Just then he noticed some people standing by the lemonade stand.
He said good-bye to Daisy and hurried back to work.
Henry thought about the case as he poured lemonade and collected quarters.
Could Rebecca be the shirt thief? She had a good motive.
And it was very busy and crowded at the stable today.
She probably could have grabbed the shirt without anyone seeing her.
Maybe Cole would come back from the barn with some good clues.
"Hello, Henry," a familiar voice said. "How's business?"
Henry looked up. Maggie's father was smiling at him.
"Hi, Uncle Bruce," Henry said. "Would you like some lemonade?"
"Sure." Uncle Bruce reached into his pocket for a quarter.
"I'm getting thirsty standing around waiting to watch Maggie ride."
Henry glanced over at the barn.
"Hey, Uncle Bruce, can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, Henry. What is it?" his uncle said.
"Will you watch the lemonade stand for a few minutes?" Henry said.
"I need to go find Cole."
"No problem." Uncle Bruce stepped behind the table.
"Step right up for Belltown's best lemonade!" he called to a passing woman.
"Thanks," Henry told him. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
When Henry entered the barn, it was very busy.
Ponies were standing in stalls and tied in the aisles.
Lots of kids were running around with grooming tools or saddles and bridles.
Henry dodged around a fat brown pony, looking for Cole.
He didn't see Cole, but he spotted Maggie near Big Spot's stall.
"Have you seen Cole?" Henry asked, hurrying over.
"Nope." Maggie fiddled with her pony's halter.
"Haven't seen him since I left the lemonade stand."
"That's weird," Henry muttered.
Then he noticed Daisy leading her pony into the barn.
She stopped in front of a stall a few doors down from Big Spot's.
"Is that Coco's stall?" Henry asked Maggie.
"Yeah," Maggie said. "You should go look for clues there."
"That's what Cole is supposed to be doing."
Henry started walking toward Coco's stall.
But he had to stop when a dark-haired girl led a dapple-gray pony out of the stall next to Big Spot's.
"Excuse me," the girl said with a smile.
Henry smiled back.
The girl was about Daisy's age, but he didn't recognize her.
Suddenly Henry's smile faded.
The girl's shirt had long sleeves, a high collar, and a strip of polka-dotted ribbon on the front pocket.
"You!" he blurted out. "You took Daisy's show shirt!"